Monday, February 17, 2014 11:41:04 AM America/Los_Angeles

Can Cigars Cause Success?

Mark Twain was a brilliant man who loved his cigars. He made a habit of smoking cigars while he wrote. Twain is famous for resisting societal pressures, and his choice in cigars was no different. He preferred the cigars that he could buy for $4 a barrel. He once stated that "To me, almost any cigar is good that nobody else will smoke, and to me almost all cigars are bad that other people consider good."

What would he be without his cigars? Twain smoked one cigar after another while writing, and when his wife forced him to quit, he got a severe case of writer's block that lasted a few months. Once he started to smoke again, he completed his book in three months.

While cigars can't officially be connected to Twain's success, they must have played a roll. The man who smoked 300 cigars a month and was only able to write with a cigar in his mouth, wrote some of the most-read books in the US today, including Huckleberry Finn AKA The Great American Novel.

There have been many great people throughout history that smoked cigars, and almost all of them were proud of their habits. Could cigars be the reason for their success? People like Winston Churchill, Mark Twain, JFK, and Babe Ruth, to name a few, are almost synonymous with their cigar smoking habits. This common ritual cannot be just a coincidence.

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Tuesday, November 12, 2013 7:13:59 PM America/Los_Angeles

Churchill's Cigars

When you think of smoking a cigar, you usually picture a beautiful, relaxing setting. The first place that comes to mind is usually an outdoor patio in the sun or an old oak-panelled library. For Winston Churchill, that place was 15,000 feet in the air aboard an aircraft en route to Cairo. Since planes were not yet pressurized back then, the former British Prime Minister had his oxygen mask specially designed to accommodate a cigar.

The "British Bulldog" was known for his trademark cigar and top hat combo throughout the Second World War. Churchill preferred Cuban cigars above all others and this preference began in November of 1895 when Churchill was sent to Cuba to aid the Spanish in quelling the whispers of revolution. Churchill's first week there didn't go as planned, however, as the Spanish Commandant who was supposed to greet them at the docks never showed up. Churchill and a fellow officer, left to their own devices, stayed in a fancy hotel and lived off a diet of Cuban cigars and oranges. At his home in England, "Winnie" had a private cigar room stocked with 3000 plus cuban cigars, Romeo y Julieta being among his favourite brands.

Imagine flying high above the ground smoking your favourite cigar. The man certainly was a genius and, arguably, one of the greatest men in history, but what would he have been without his cigars? Where would you like to smoke a cigar? What heights or depths would you travel? What stories you could tell.

“Smoking cigars is like falling in love. First, you are attracted by its shape; you stay for its flavour, and you must always remember never, never to let the flame go out!” ~Winston Churchill